Fructuoso Rivera

Jose Fructuoso Rivera y Toscana (17 October 1784-13 January 1854) was President of Uruguay from 6 November 1830 to 24 October 1834 (succeeding Luis Eduardo Perez and preceding Carlos Anaya), from 1 March 1839 to 1 March 1843 (succeeding Gabriel Antonio Pereira and preceding Manuel Oribe), and from 25 September 1853 to 13 January 1854 (succeeding Juan Francisco Giro and preceding Venancio Flores). He was one of the main founding fathers of Uruguay as well as the founder of the Colorado Party of Uruguay, which ruled the country without interruption from 1865 to 1958.

Biography
Jose Fructuoso Rivera y Toscana was born in Durazno, Uruguay on 17 October 1784, and he was a rancher before joining Jose Gervasio Artigas' army in 1810 and rising to the rank of general. After the Portuguese occupation of the Banda Oriental in 1820, Artigas was exiled and Rivera was forced to live under Portuguese and Brazilian rule. In 1825, he joined the Argentine-backed independence movement under Juan Antonio Lavalleja during the Cisplatine War, overthrowing Brazilian rule. Rivera became President in 1830, serving for four years before naming Manuel Oribe his successor. However, he came into conflict with both Lavalleja and Oribe, and Rivera defeated Oribe in 1838 and forced him to flee to Buenos Aires. Soon, Rivera's followers began to wear read and Oribe's followers began to wear white, forming the liberal Colorados and the conservative Blancos as the Uruguayan Civil War began. In 1842, Oribe, backed by Argentine president Juan Manuel de Rosas, invaded Uruguay and limited Rivera's power base to the capital of Montevideo, which was then besieged. From 1847 to 1853, Rivera was forced into exile in Brazil, and he returned in 1853 after President Juan Francisco Giro was overthrown. Venancio Flores, Lavalleja, and Rivera formed a governing triumvirate, but it fell apart when Rivera and Lavalleja died in office.